Iowa’s Supreme Court lets strict abortion law go into effect
The Iowa Supreme Court said the state’s strict abortion law is legal, allowing Iowa to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday the state’s strict abortion law is legal, telling a lower court to dissolve a temporary block on the law and allowing Iowa to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant.
The 4-3 ruling is a win for Republican lawmakers, and Iowa joins more than a dozen other states with restrictive abortion laws following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Currently, 14 states have near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy and three ban abortions at about six weeks.
The Iowa Supreme Court’s majority reiterated on Friday that there is no constitutional right to abortion. Moreover, as the state requested, they instructed courts to assess whether the government has a legitimate interest in restricting the procedure, rather than whether there is too heavy a burden for people seeking abortion access.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds immediately released a statement celebrating the decision.
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